


Rain

by Nefertiti1052 (Succubusphan), schnaf



Category: Phandom/The Fantastic Foursome (YouTube RPF)
Genre: Domestic Fluff, Introspection, M/M, Slice of Life, very mild angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-13
Updated: 2020-09-13
Packaged: 2021-03-06 19:54:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,886
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26434504
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Succubusphan/pseuds/Nefertiti1052, https://archiveofourown.org/users/schnaf/pseuds/schnaf
Summary: When their dinner date gets ruined, the boys need to find a way to make it work.
Relationships: Dan Howell/Phil Lester
Comments: 8
Kudos: 22





	Rain

**Author's Note:**

> This was our little one day project, we hope you enjoy it.

‘Oh no. This can’t be true.’

Dan walks towards the window and pushes the curtain aside gently, looking up to the grey sky with a frown. A light drizzle starts to fall and he can’t contain a disappointed sigh. He runs his fingers through his hair, leaving it more wild than it had been. This was not supposed to happen. After being hauled up inside for so long due to quarantine they had decided to have a beautiful romantic dinner under the stars - in the comfort of their own balcony - but it seems like the weather forecast had been wrong _again_. ‘Awesome.’

All of a sudden, there are hands on his waist. Arms around him. A body behind Dan’s. Phil’s voice right next to his ear. “You look like a grumpy old farmer. What’s the matter?”

Dan leans back. For one moment, he closes his eyes, just enjoying being close to Phil, just taking in his warmth. Hey, he could just focus on that, that’s pretty nice too. But… It’s not what they planned. He sighs. “Look.” No more words needed - Phil just needs to look outside. The trees are rustling in the wind, moving forward, moving backward. Little dots are turning the grey wood dark, drop by drop by drop. Not the best setting for a dinner outdoors.

Phil sighs just as he did. “We can still make it work,” he says, pressing a kiss to Dan’s cheek and tightening his embrace for a moment. “If you still want to.”

He always does that. He tries to find the positive in every situation, not letting Dan sink into the darkness that his mind can be sometimes, but he doesn’t push - at least not more than he knows Dan can handle. He likes to remind Dan that he has a choice. That he can be sad sometimes, that he can give up on a day without being judged by his partner. “Of course, I was looking forward to your amazing cooking skills.” He snickers as Phil tickles his tummy, trying to move away from him, but damn, Phil forced him into a corner, blocking the way out with his body. Dan squirms, but Phil is relentless. Only when Dan begs for mercy, Phil lets go of him.

Dan catches his breath, then he turns around to face him and -

Ah, shit. He really did pick an attractive boyfriend, he can’t help but notice over and over again and looking at Phil right now… his hair is a mess, it probably already was even before his attack, but Dan’s struggles to break free didn’t exactly help. His cheeks have turned red, he’s still out of breath, but he’s smiling and he’s so giddy and happy and -

Oh, how lovely it would be to take this man out on a date. Even if “out” only meant their balcony. But no, the weather gods had other things in mind. Other things, like putting some dark clouds over London and some in Dan’s head.

And still, Phil managed to make him laugh.

“Thank you,” Dan mumbles, pressing his forehead into Phil’s shoulder with a small smile on his lips.

Phil presses a kiss to the top of his head with a sigh. “Thank _you_.” Phil grabs Dan’s hand and brings it to his lips.

Dan feels breathless. Phil is not a man of many words, but they don’t need them to communicate. Dan knows exactly what he is saying because it’s what he keeps repeating to him: ‘Thank you for being you, thank you for being with me, thank you for all these years.’ Sometimes it’s hard to accept those words, so Phil tends to leave them unsaid, but they know. “Love you,” he whispers without looking up.

“Love you too,” Phil says softly, but before Dan can even kiss him, Phil smirks and slaps Dan’s ass, breaking all sort of romantic energy in an instant. “Go get fancy while I take care of dinner.” 

Dan rolls his eyes at Phil, but he decides to spare him the scolding. Instead, he nods and leaves in the direction of the bedroom.

An hour later finds Dan fully dressed, hair still wet from the shower and Phil attempting to whistle as he cuts a good amount of veggies to put onto the pan. 

Dan leans on the kitchen island, watching him try to arrange everything neatly over the stove when a lightning makes them both look in the direction of the balcony. “Shit,” he says but before he can add anything else, the thunder finally lands, making the entire building shake. And then, just like that they are standing in a dark kitchen.

“Phil?”

It’s not like he’d gone completely blind. Their lights may have gone out, but it’s not fully dark outside yet. There’s a faint glow coming from outside that is only obscured by the clouds as they rush past the moon. Dan still can see silhouettes, he still can see Phil a few feet away from him. Yet, it’s his first instinct to reach out for him.

No objection from Phil’s side. “Yep. Over here.”

“Well, then - move your ass this way.” Dan orders him, a grin on his face. Of course, he doesn’t wait for Phil to rescue him, of course he moves towards him at the same time. They meet in the middle of the kitchen island, Dan takes Phil’s hand immediately.

“Is the power out?” Dan asks. Now that they’re so close he can even make out Phil nodding.

“Seems like it. Wait -” Phil reaches behind him, trying out the light switch. Dan can hear the little click, but - nothing happens.

He thinks back to the Manchester flat, their first home together. They had learned many things about being grown ups there. One of the first lessons had been: ‘always check if your neighbors have power during a black out.’

With a tentative hand running on the counter as he walks, Dan silently guides Phil towards the window. The light drizzle they had seen before has evolved into pouring rain. The London sky is pitch black save for the moonlight. “Fuck,” he says, pressing his forehead to the glass. “What now? We can’t cook without power.”

“Well,” Phil looks out the window towards the grill. “I have an idea.”

Dan follows his line of sight and frowns. “You are _not_ cooking outside in the rain, Lester.” 

“It will be fine!” Phil says, already turning his phone light on and marching in the direction of the bedroom. 

Dan follows him with a huff. “Phil,” he stomps his foot like a toddler. He knows he looks ridiculous but he doesn’t care - besides, Phil can’t actually see him. 

“Aha!” Phil says holding up his shoes. “Get some candles that don’t smell absolutely horrendous together. We are having a candlelit dinner.” 

“Fine, but I don’t want you cooking in the fucking rain! What if you get struck by a thunder?” 

“I’m not cooking outside, so I won’t. Don’t worry about it.” Phil says, pointing his phone light towards his own face to show an evil little smirk.

Dan huffs and flashes his own light into each of the dresser drawers and finds two autumn themed candles. ‘It will have to do.’ He turns around when he hears Phil rush past him. ‘I’ll kill him. I’ll divorce him, and then I’ll kill him.’

As he returns to the lounge, he finds the balcony door open and Phil pulling the grill towards him, leaving it right on the limit with their living room. “What are you doing?”

“I’m setting the fire, putting everything in with the lid and staying inside.” Phil smiles, clearly proud of himself for having such a good idea. 

“You are … _mental_.” Dan shakes his head fondly.

Phil crosses his arms with a laugh and wiggles his eyebrows. “Or am I a genius?”

Dan shoves him gently. “Definitely mental.”

Phil tries to wink but fails miserably. “Let’s get this show on the road. You set the candles and the table while I cook.” He slaps Dan’s ass again.

“Keep the smoke outside - if you can get it going that is.”

Phil rolls his eyes at him. “Anything for you, babe.”

Thus, they both set off. Dan takes care of the table as Phil told him, shooting a glance at his cook every now and then. He’s doing surprisingly well - sure, the maniac laugh when he manages to light the fire is a bit concerning but well, that’s Dan signed up for when he doubted Phil’s glorious idea, apparently. Not half an hour later he can smell the vegetables and damn, his mouth is watering. Now if Phil could hurry up… He’s hungry.

It doesn’t take that much longer until Phil is ready to serve his creation. There’s a tiny little curse when he tries to put the grilled vegetables on a plate; another, this time more audible curse when he almost stumbles over a cable on the floor, but then he reaches the candlelit table. Dan inspects the plate’s content while Phil sits down opposite of him.

“Wow. Looks amazing,” Dan admits without shame. Sure, he was poking fun at Phil before, he also was actually worried about him messing up, but… He’s really happy with the final result and not ashamed to let Phil know.

Phil grins at him, the proud smile of - a cook? No, it’s more than that. It’s the proud smile of a cook who just saved his starving boyfriend. “Yeah, right?” But then, his expression softens and he reaches out to take Dan’s hand.

“I know. It isn’t a romantic dinner under the stars. And a candlelight dinner would be more romantic if we weren’t forced to do it. But still… Better than nothing, isn’t it?” Phil asks and Dan looks at him, at his caring smile and -

He sighs. “I was quite the drama queen, hm?”

Complaining about the circumstances whereas Phil took matters into his own hands… Damn, he feels actually bad about it. Phil looked forward to this evening just as much as he did but he had to deal with Dan’s mood on top of the weather problems.

Phil just shrugs. “You were upset. But rightfully so. As long as you’re happy now…”

Dan lifts his head. Phil’s smile is so sincere… It’s okay. Everything is okay. Things didn’t go according to plan but hey, they’re here, they’ve got some food and most of all, they’ve got each other.

  
Could be worse.

So instead of assuring Phil he’s alright, Dan decides to prove it. He leans over, picking up a bottle he placed under the table before. The dark liquid sloshes backwards and forwards, clearly visible behind the green glass. “Got us some wine. Should be a good match.”

Phil’s face lights up - it turns into a giggle when Dan tries to hold the bottle like a beauty YouTuber trying to present an oversized eyeliner. The giggle is still in his voice when he comments on Dan’s surprise. “Awesome. That’s just what I need right now. See? Told you we’re going to be alright.”

“Of course we will, Bub. We always are.” Dan pours them both a glass and raises his for a toast. “To us, to our story and our future.”

Phil clinks Dan’s glass with a smile. “To your talent, your heart…” he pauses for effect, “and that perfect ass.”

Dan snorts and dips his fingers in the wine, flicking some directly onto Phil’s face. “I hate you.”

“Ah! Bitch!” Phil wipes his face with one of their white napkins in retaliation; he knows Dan will have a fit about it later. “I hate you more,” he says sweetly.

Dinner is over in a flash. The power is still out, but their hearts are happy and their tummies are full of Rosé, so when Phil proposes to relocate to the piano, Dan doesn’t object. They bring the candles along with them and after placing them around the piano, Dan takes a seat and presses the button to turn it on.

“Any song requests?” He asks Phil, placing his fingers on the keys. Ah, he really doesn’t want to get sappy, but… He likes that feeling. The moment when you’re about to start making music…

“I’ll take whatever you pick.” Phil appears right behind him, apparently kneeling because he wraps his arms around Dan’s waist, resting his head on Dan’s shoulders.

Dan turns his head to look at him. “I don’t know if I can play if you’re clinging to me.”

There’s no expression of guilt on Phil’s face. Quite the opposite - he tries to make it seem like Dan annoys him. His little giggle gives him away, though.

Still, he’s quite demanding. “Make it work.”  
  
  


Well, if Phil insists… His fingers run along the keys without a thought. Then he starts playing ‘Pyramid song’.

It just takes the first few notes for Dan to drift away. His fingers seem to move on their own, finding the correct keys right away because they’re so familiar with them, his head is silent - it’s as if the music swept away every single thought in his brain. It’s just him, the piano, the music - and Phil. Phil’s arms around him, Phil’s body pressed against his back, the steady lifting and lowering of his chest.

Then, Dan stops. Damn, he doesn’t know how to finish the song. He could go on for a bit, but he’d reach the point soon when he didn’t continue learning it. 

And thus, the moment of peace is over.

It’s always been like that. Every other song he can think of, he never finished learning. That seems to be a constant in his life; the only constant besides Phil. 

Speaking of Phil: He gets up to sit beside him and places his hand on Dan’s, giving it a little squeeze. “Teach me.”

“Sure. I’m the best teacher in the world,” he mumbles, his eyes still fixating on the keys. “I never finished learning any of the songs I play.”

“That’s not true,” Phil says matter-of-factly. “You learned the song for the tour.” 

Dan smiles - Phil’s right, he did. He just needs to remember that it’s ok to not finish every single project. Damn, he could never doubt his boyfriend, especially when he is looking at him like he is the most talented man on this planet. Dan knows that’s not the case but…

He doesn’t need to be; he is good enough. He can do this. He takes a deep breath and lets it out slowly. “Ok, put your fingers here. No, wait.” He demonstrates the fingers placement for Phil. “Like this.” Phil adjusts his hands and Dan runs his fingers on his boyfriend’s softly. “That’s it, good.” Dan turns his head to look at his student, but Phil doesn’t return the gaze. He’s focused on his fingers, on the fingers placement Dan just taught him. Damn, he really wants to learn this - and moreover, Dan is actually able to teach him. Just like Phil let him know - he can do it.

Dan feels a pull in his stomach; he - he just can’t resist the urge. He leans over to kiss Phil on the cheek.

Now, Phil lifts his gaze. Just for a brief moment, just for a short smile, then he returns his attention back to the keys. And Dan does so too.

They play the song together quietly, Dan adjusting Phil’s fingers with a smile when he misses. 

Then, it gets bright all of a sudden. The lights turn back on, the fridge starts humming.

The power has returned, making them blink as they try to adjust their eyes. Phil removes his hands from the piano to reach for his long forgotten glass. “Well. That was nice.” he takes a sip of wine.

“Yeah.” Dan smiles, pouring himself a new glass and silently offering Phil a refill.

Phil hands him his glass. “Do you think we can get a piano for the house?”

“What’s wrong with this one?” Dan’s eyebrows disappear into his hair as he returns the glass.

Phil shakes his head. “Nothing, I just thought you would prefer a more traditional one. Like the one in the old apartment.”

Dan sips on his wine and hums. “It’s not a bad idea. Not a bad idea at all, along with a gas stove.”

“Ah, probably.” Phil smiles. “But I did make the grill work.”

“I never doubted you.”

Phil pokes Dan’s stomach. “You _did_ , you’re just saying that because you were wrong.”

“Of course not, I was only joking, Bub,” Dan says with fake innocence.

Phil squints his eyes but finally lets it go. “As long as we continue the piano lessons in the new place…”

‘Okay, okay, game over.’ How could he insist on keeping up the bant when he feels so giddy all of a sudden? If he can’t keep himself from smiling like a fool? “Of course.”

It doesn’t matter if their date nights get rained on. It doesn’t matter that he’s not the best pianist in the world, or if he can’t always keep the darkness at bay.

In the end, it will always be just the two of them. Phil will always be his companion through life; even if he ends up burning the house at one point or another.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you Niki for joining me in this crazy project! It was a lot of fun <3
> 
> Follow Niki on Tumblr: [Schnaf](http://Schnaf.tumblr.com/)
> 
> Follow me on Tumblr: [Succubusphan](http://Succubusphan.tumblr.com/)
> 
> In case you wish to reblog the fic: [Tumblr Link](https://succubusphan.tumblr.com/post/629161947767668736/rain)
> 
> Comments and Kudos will be greatly appreciated!!!!


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